Free Child Development Kit from CDC: Provides Educational Resources for Parents on Developmental Milestones

Alabama Nurse, Sep-Nov 2005

It's important for parents to know if their children, even as young as six months, are developing physical and mental skills as they should. To help them, the CDC, along with its national partners, will launch the "Learn the Signs. Act Early." campaign to help parents identify the important developmental milestones for young children. Along with height and weight, activities like smiling, pointing, and pretending are all important milestones in the first years of a child's life. In preparation for the anticipated increase in awareness and education among parents, CDC is encouraging the health care professional community to order free resource materials on measuring developmental milestones.

"Learn the Signs. Act Early." is designed to help parents recognize how young children should develop and the early warning signs of developmental disorders, including autism, mental retardation, and cerebral palsy. Often, these warning signs can be detected when children are in their first few years of life.

The campaign encourages parents to talk with their child's pediatrician or healthcare professional as early as possible when a delay in the development of an important skill or ability is suspected. In most cases, the earlier a developmental delay is detected, the sooner a child can receive treatment, and the better chance the child has to achieve his or her full potential.

CDC's campaign has been able to reach health care professionals by distributing these kits at more than a dozen national conferences. This resource kit, available in English and Spanish, contains a number of materials designed for providers to share with parents, including:

* Fact sheets on developmental milestones, screening, developmental disorders, and resources.

* Informational cards with milestones by age and a series of questions for the child's key health care professional.

* An 11" by 17" "Learn the Signs. Act Early." poster designed for an examination room.

Health care professional resource kits and additional information are available at:

www.cdc.gov/actearly and 1-800-CDC-INFO.

Health care professionals can also direct parents to the Web site and telephone number to order a free parent resource kit.

"Learn the Signs. Act Early." is a collaborative effort of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Autism Coalition, the Autism Society of America (ASA), Cure Autism Now (CAN), First Signs, Organization for Autism Research (OAR), and the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR).